The present disclosure relates to a sheet discharging device for discharging a sheet incorporated in an image forming apparatus such as a copier or a printer, and to an image forming apparatus provided with such a sheet discharging device.
Image forming apparatuses such as copiers and laser printers are provided with a sheet discharge tray for discharging a sheet having a predetermined image formed on it through an electro-photographic process or a document sheet having been conveyed from an auto document feeder to a document reading portion and subjected to document image reading. As such a sheet discharge tray, aside from a discharge tray provided in the top surface of the main body of or in an intra-body discharge space of the image forming apparatus, an auxiliary discharge tray is known that is openably and closably provided at a side surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus.
For example, a document tray fitting structure is known in which a retractable recording sheet cover is fitted openably and closably under a document discharge opening provided in a side surface of the main body of the image forming apparatus, and a document tray which receives a document sheet discharged from the document discharge opening is fitted openably and closably to the outer face of the recording sheet cover so as to swing about the same axis as the recording sheet cover.